Abra earthquake caused power interruptions in several areas —DOE

The magnitude 7 earthquake that jolted Abra caused power outages in several areas in Northern Luzon, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Wednesday.

In its situation report, the DOE said that all power generation plants are on normal operation, except for the Hedcor hydroelectric power plants, namely the Ferdinand L. Singit and Sabangan facilities, which went on outage due to the earthquake.

Likewise, the National Power Corp.-Small Power Utilities Group plants operation in the Northern Luzon area are on normal operation.

The DOE said that the following electric cooperatives had experienced power interruption:

• Abra Electric Cooperative (ABRECO): The DOE said some of the municipalities of Abra still have power. It is waiting for more details on the outage of the affected area.
• Mountain Province Electric Cooperative (MOPRECO): Due to the earthquake, Baang and Pegeo substations are affected. Whole MOPRECO coverage areas were affected including parts of Tinglayan, Kalinga and parts of Cervantes and Quirino, Ilocos Sur. Power may be restored earlier or later depending on the assessment of Ba-ang and Pegeo substations.
• La Union Electric Cooperative (LUELCO): Six substations are now already with power. Two substations remained unenergized.
• Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative: Ongoing repair/replacement of damaged 69-kilovolt line of CENPELCO in Barangay Taloy, Malasiqui, due to the earthquake. Affected areas are as follows: Malasiqui, Bayambang, Basista and Bautista.
• Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC): The DOE said it iswaiting for details on affected areas.

The DOE said the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines reported that they are currently implementing restoration works for the remaining Bacnotan-Bulala 69kV line in La Union which tripped at 8:44 a.m., following the earthquake.

The earthquake caused power interruptions affecting the franchise area of LUELCO. Power interruptions were also experienced in parts of Pangasinan, Benguet, Tarlac, and Abra but affected lines were immediately restored, the DOE said.

The agency said that facilities serving the National Capital Region are normal and intact.

“There are no private distribution utilities that had tripping,” the DOE said.

For Meralco, operations are normal after the tripping of two Malolos 13.8 kilovolts circuits but reclosed successfully. —KG, GMA News